The present invention relates to oral hygiene devices for animals, and specifically to a mechanically assisted rotary toothbrush for pets.
Oral hygiene is of primary concern to many pet owners due to the effects of dental disease. Dental disease begins with plaque. Plaque is the film of bacteria that colonizes the tooth surface. Minerals present in saliva can precipitate onto the plaque covered tooth surface, resulting in dental tartar. Throughout this process bacteria can adhere to the tooth surface below the gum line referred to as the subgingival surface. This is the beginning of periodontal disease that causes local infection that may result in tooth loss, bad breath, and pain on chewing. Also bacteria can gain access to the bloodstream and can infect heart, lungs, liver, and kidneys and can substantially shorten a dog""s life expectancy.
Due to the shape and arrangement of the posterior teeth and due to the openings of the zygomatic and parotid salivary ducts (just above the upper lateral surface of the posterior teeth), dental plaque and tartar accumulate more predominantly on the posterior teeth, especially the lateral (buccal) surfaces of the upper posterior teeth. Tongue movement, during and after eating, and while panting, helps keep the medial (lingual) surfaces clean.
Regular cleaning of the teeth can reduce the prevalence of the aforementioned health and hygiene problems. Thus, a number of devices have been developed over the years for cleaning the teeth of animals, especially dogs. Most of these known devices are adaptations of traditional toothbrushes designed for human use. However, inducing a dog or other animal to allow its teeth to be adequately cleaned can be a difficult task.
Advancement in this field has led to the development of flavored toothpastes designed to be appealing to the animal. For example, the toothpaste may have the flavor of beef, providing a needed incentive for a dog to allow its teeth to be brushed.
Even with the enticement of an attractive flavor, effectively cleaning a dog""s teeth with a brush can be exceedingly impractical. When presented with the flavor-laden brush, the dog will almost always bite or chew on the brush, preventing the dog""s owner from scrubbing its teeth.
Even mechanically assisted devices, such as electric toothbrushes, do not solve the above-mentioned problem. Conventional electric toothbrushes for humans generally have a vibrating or reciprocating head. These devices are ineffective on dogs and other animals, because they do not prevent the dog from biting down and restricting the movement of the brush.
The present invention provides a power assisted toothbrush for cleaning the teeth of a domestic animal. The toothbrush comprises: a powered rotational drive assembly comprising a rotational output; a brush shaft coupled to the rotational output, the brush shaft having a longitudinal axis; a plurality of bristles, each of the plurality of bristles being connected to the brush shaft, and each of the plurality of bristles radially extending from the brush shaft; and a biting surface of rotation defined by free ends of the bristles as rotated about the longitudinal axis.
According to another aspect, the present invention provides a method for cleaning the teeth of an animal. The method comprises steps of: inserting a brush into a mouth of an animal; biting on the brush by the animal; and rotating of the brush by a powered rotational drive assembly with sufficient force to maintain the rotating despite the biting by the animal.